01 April 2015 (released)
01 April 2015
Berlin based Deep House producer Modul Kollektiv is something of a man of mystery. Insisting that the focus should be on his music, he has kept himself pretty private – well, apart from his gigantic recent release ‘Control’ on Kittball, which is currently dominating the dancefloors, climbing the beatport charts and gaining support from heavyweight DJs. We caught up with him for a chat and found out about why he says ‘no’ to selfies with animals.
Music News: We hear Modul Kollektiv is a new alias, what were you doing before this?
Modul Kollektiv: Yes before Modul Kollektiv I had techno & electro releases on several top labels including Dim Mak. But I always felt a love for house/deep house music and I always produced this style but never felt that it was the right time to release the tracks. With my new brand Modul Kollektiv I created a new platform for my sound. I try to define my own soundscape and to produce something fresh, something unique.
Music News: Cool, and why have you decided to keep your identity a secret for now?
Modul Kollektiv: Well I never decided to keep my identity a secret. Actually it is no secret. You can find a bunch of photos of myself on my Facebook page, you can find interviews or stories about myself. But I understand your point. In my opinion the music is the key factor and not the person who is DJing or producing the music. I came from the underground scene, started at raves and learned my DJ skills old school on Technics 1210 decks. I have an uncountable amount of vinyl here in my studio. Back in the days the person behind musical projects was not the important thing. In most cases I didn't imagine the persona, the important thing was the tunes. Nowadays most of the EDM DJ's sell themselves out. From pictures of their dinner to selfies with their pets. Well I do not have a pet and my cooking skills are bad (he laughs) the fact is, music is the key…
Music News: We hear you have some pretty amazing kit in your studio, tell us a bit more about your creative process?
Modul Kollektiv: As I said before I truly came from underground scene and the use of computers in studio was rare. It was the glory day of analogue. I started producing with hardware like the famous Roland TR-909 which I still use today in the studio. Later on I bought another amazing analogue box from Roland, the acid machine TB-303. I used a sequencer to program and send MIDI notes to my gear like TB-303, TR-909 and SH-101 and modulated the sound live. I mixed everything on a big analogue mixer and made crazy sounds.
As you can see I am still in love with the analogue stuff - I produced music with synths from Moog, Nord lead, Dave Smith, Korg and Electron - all of them are great in their own way. Most of the time I use Ableton Live on a Mac as sequencer for all the analogue machines and finalize the ideas in Logic Pro.
Music News: Your unique synth sound has become a bit of a Modul Kollektiv trademark, what is it that you love so much about synths?
Modul Kollektiv: Synths are absolutely amazing instruments especially the old ones. Every synth has got a different story. The Roland TB-303 was built in 1982 – only 1000 made worldwide. Today this analogue bassline wonder is 33 years old and was used by many different musicians for different sounds. And the sound is still more current than ever. My TR-909 that I use in my studio was played by Richie Hawtin and Jeff Mills. Years ago both played in a club near my hometown and needed a TR-909 for their gig.
I still have the TR909 & TB 303 in my studio and still use them. They are so unique. No VST will every reach the sound of this little box because the sound of VSTs is a binary code. 0001010101010010001. The sound of a binary code is perfect. The sound of e.g. a TB-303 is unique because it is not always musically correct. The human hearing gets bored from a binary code sound. Our hearing gets more fascinating by tunes that sound different …
Music News: Tell us about double EP 'Son' & 'Shades' how did the tracks come about?
Modul Kollektiv: ‘Son’ takes the listener on a journey with unique synth effects, lovely disco inspired bass and artfully sliced vocals. It's a groovy song for the earlier hours in the clubs
‘Shades’ is a darker shade of deep house. It's one for the clubs, just wait until you hear that monster of a drop…To set the floor on fire - Go and check them out.
Music News: What’s next for Modul Kollektiv?
Modul Kollektiv: Everything is happening so fast right now. The "Control EP" on Kittball Records was and is still a great success. The initial feedback on “Son / Shades” EP sounds really promising. I just finished a follow up EP with majestic brass progressions, organic sounds, groovy vocals and a breath-taking video, which I produced myself. What else? – My agency is booking me a tour. And I am glad to be out there with acts like Claptone, Kruse & Nürnberg, Pleasurekraft or Robosonic. So if you guys out there want to know the producer behind the secret identity, come to my gigs and ask me what you wanna know :-)
“Son / Shades” EP is out now on Soundplate Records.
